Thermometer



April 11, .1939. R. E. GORVDONIER ET AL THERMOMETER Filed May 11, 1936Patented Apr. 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFECE THERMOMETERApplication May 11, 1986, Serial No. 79,102

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in thermometers of a typeparticularly adapted to differentiate between certain ranges oftemperature. It is common practice to call temperatures 5 greater than70 degrees for example, warm, for a home or ofiice, and to designatetemperatures lower than this amount, cool. While this particular valueas a starting point for the two ranges of temperature may not be correctin many cases, it may be used as an example. On

the usual types of thermometers the scale is continuous, and thereforemore difficult to differentiate between temperatures above a certaindegree and below a certain degree.

5 It is the object of our invention to provide a thermometer which isprovided with a doubleended pointer and which is also provided with adial having two separate scales thereon. The thermometer is sodesignated that when the tem- 20 perature is below a certain degree, thepointer will designate this fact on one scale, and when the temperatureis above a certain predetermined amount, it will register on the otherscale.

It is an added feature of our invention to des- 25 ignate the differentscales with suitable terminology so that each scale may be readilydefined. For example, one scale may be designated by the term Warm, andthe other scale designated by the term Cool. In this way, the observerwill 30 readily note that the temperature is below or above a certainpredetermined amount, for the temperature at any one time with theexception of the time the pointer designates to the predeterminedchanging point, only registers on one of the scales.

It is a further feature of our invention to provide numerals ofdifferent colors on each of the scales to more clearly differentiatebetween warm and cool temperatures.

40 An outstanding feature of our thermometer resides in a balancedneedle or indicating element which is adapted to indicate thetemperature. By using a balanced needle the thermostatic element is moresensitive and is designed 45 to operate more readily to indicate thetemperature upon the face of the thermometer. In a thermometer of thischaracter, a metallic thermostatic element may be employed and a form ofthis element may be in a coil with one end 50 of the coil adjustablyfixed while the other end of the coil supports the shaft which supportsthe balanced needle or indicating element. Thus we provide a thermometeror temperature indicator wherein the indicating element is virtuallyper- 55 fectly balanced owing to its form and character,

and we thereby provide a temperature indicator sensitive to changes intemperature so as to more readily and quickly indicate the variouschanges in the temperature.

In one form of our thermometer both ends of the temperature indicatingelement or needle are exposed. In another form, only one end of thebalanced indicating element or needle is exposed in the operation of thethermometer excepting at one point or temperature. This point may be 10the exact horizontal position of the balanced temperature indicatingneedle or may be placed at a different position than we have indicatedit.

The shield which covers half the dial is preferably elevated from theother half of the dial and on which the indicia is placed to indicatethe degrees of temperature. This provides a novel form of thermometerwherein the indicating needle is balanced yet where only one end of theneedle is exposed at a time.

These and other objects and novel features of our invention will be morefully and clearly set forth in the accompanying specification andclaims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation view of our thermometer.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation view of the same.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation view of the thermometer with the backinclosing plate removed Figure 6 is a front elevation view of a slightlydifferent form of construction.

Our thermometer A comprises a decorous outer casing I 0 having a glassface H thereon. The face H covers a dial l2 which is readily visiblebeneath the glass face I I.

The dial I2 is substantially circular in shape and is provided with anannular cylindrical flange l3 thereupon to space the dial I2 from theglass face H. Extending from the cylindrical flange I3 is a shortbearing flange l4 parallel the face of the dial l2 and adapted to engagethe glass face ll. Extending radially from the flange I3 we provide aseries of angularly spaced ears M.

The outer casing 10 is provided with a front face l5 and side walls l6of sufficient width to include the thermometer mechanism. A circularflange I! extending rearwardly from the rear surface l8 of the frontface 15 of the casing in incloses the edges of the glass face II andholds this face in place. Pairs of spaced flanges I9 adjoin the flangel1 and provide a locking means for the ears I4 of the dial I2. The earsI4 extend between the flanges I9, preventing relative rotation betweenthe casing I and the dial I2.

A bracket plate 20 having an upstanding flange 22 thereon is secured tothe rear face of the dial l2 by means of a collar 23 having a hollowshank 24 thereon which extends through the dial I2 and through a collar25 on the front side of the dial and is riveted over the collar 25 tohold the bracket 20 securely to the dial l2. Through the hollow shank 24and freely movable therein with virtually no friction, we provide aspindle 26 upon which the pointer 2'! is mounted by friction. Thespindle 26 on the rear side of the dial I2 is provided with a portion 28of enlarged diameter having a transverse slot 29 in the end thereof. Acoil 30 of bimetallic thermostatic material is secured at one end in theslot 29. The other end 32 of the coil 30 extends through the upstandingflange 22 on the bracket 2!].

The bracket 20 is held with some friction against the rear surface ofthe dial l2 but may be pivoted radially about the shank 24 whennecessary. Such shifting acts to adjust the thermometer and in this waythe pointer 21 may be made to indicate correctly.

The back covering plate 33 is secured by screws 34 to spacing posts 35extending rearwardly from the front face I of the casing III. This rearface 33 is perforated at 35 so that air surrounding the thermometer maypass freely into and out of a thermometer casing into contact with thethermostatic coil 30. Inwardly extending legs 36 cut from the materialforming the back covering plate 33 extend inwardly into engagement withthe ears I4 on the dial I 2, thus holding this dial in proper positionat all times when the back cover plate is in place.

In Figure 6 we have disclosed a slightly modified form of constructionin which the dial I2 is provided with a covering sheet 31 which coversthe upper portion of the dial I2 and is spaced sufficiently therefrom toalso cover one end of the pointer 21. The cover plate 37 forms a spaceupon which advertising may be placed if desired.

It should be noted that the upper portion of the dial I2 is not providedwith designating numerals and may be provided with advertising indicia38, noted in Figure 1 of the drawing. This indicia is of particularimportance for whenever the pointer 21 designates a point which issomewhat distinct from the predetermined temperature shown at the startof both of the scales, the pointer 21 will point to this indicia.

The scales are shown on the dial I2 extending along oppositely disposedarcuated paths. In the construction shown the numerals 70 arediametrically opposite. By decreasing the angularity between theopposite ends of the pointer 21 to less than 180 degrees, however, thesenumerals would not have to be directly opposite to be simultaneouslypointed out by the pointer 21. At any temperature other than 70 degrees,however, it will be noted that only one end of the pointer 21 will readupon one of the scales 39. As one of the scales 39 has adjacent indicia40 calibrating the scale from '70 to 120 degrees, this scale 39 is alsoprovided with an indicia 42 designating Warm. As the other scale 39 hasindicia 43 reading from '70 to 20 degrees, this scale is designated Coolin the indicia 44. One scale 39 with its adjacent indicia 4!], 42, maybe colored in one color, while the other scale and its adjacent indicia43, 44, may be colored in a different color to thoroughly differentiatebetween these two scales.

In accordance with the patent statutes we have described the principlesof operation of my thermometer and while we have endeavored to set forththe best embodiments thereof, we desire to have it understood that thisis only a means of carrying out our invention and that obvious changesmay be made within the scope of the following claims without departingfrom the spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. A thermometer including a display panel, a thermostatic elementsecured adjacent said display panel, a double ended pointer secured tosaid thermostatic element to be operated thereby over said displaypanel, a pair of spaced scales arranged on adjacent quadrants of saidpanel, one scale of which is co-operable with one end of said pointer toregister temperatures above a predetermined degree, the other scale ofwhich is co-operable with the other end of said pointer to registertemperatures below a certain predetermined degree, and means forconcealing one end of .said pointer while the other end thereof isregistering a temperature above or below said predetermined temperature.

2. A thermometer including a thermostatic element operable by thechanges in temperature, a balanced temperature indicating needle means,a dial over which said needle moves, and indicia arranged in two spacedscales on adjacent quadrants of said dial each scale cooperable with oneend of said needle for indicating the temperature associated with saidneedle means, only one end of said indicating needle cooperating with ascale at a time.

3. A thermometer comprising a thermostatic element operable by thechanges in temperature, a balanced indicating pointer operable by saidthermostatic element, a separate visible scale cooperable with each endof said pointer, and means for concealing one end of said pointer whilethe other end is indicating a temperature.

ROBERT E. GORDONIER. HOWARD L. FISCHER.

